WASILLA — Aiming for her third title, Christy Marvin held the lead at the top of the mountain in the women’s race. But a Seward runner used a blazing downhill to score her first career win during the annual Mount Marathon Thursday in Seward.

Marvin was also one of a pair mountain runners with Valley ties to finish as a runner up. Eric Strabel, a Colony High School graduate and former running and skiing star with the Knights, was second in the men’s race with a time of 45:21. Strabel is a three-time Mount Marathon champion. Max King, of Bend,

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Oregon, was the men’s winner Thursday.

Marvin was one of two Valley residents to finish in the top 6 of the women’s race. Aubrey Smith, of Talkeetna, was sixth. Abby Jahn, a Colony graduate now living in Anchorage, also posted a top-10 finish, placing eighth.

Strabel was one of four runners with Valley connections to finish in the top 20 of the men’s race. Allan Spangler, a Colony graduate now living in Anchorage, was 10th. Lyon Kopsack and Ben Marvin, both of Palmer, finished 11th and 13th.

The junior race was canceled due to poor air quality created by the smoke from the Swan Lake fire on the Kenai Peninsula.

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